Chart of Accounts

What is the Chart of Accounts?

The simplest explanation The Chart of Accounts is the list of buckets your money lives in. When you spend money on rent, it goes in the "Rent" bucket. When a customer pays you, the money goes in the "Sales" bucket. When you put money in your bank account, that bucket is "Cash on Hand." Every transaction in your business uses at least two of these buckets (because every transaction has two sides: where the money came from and where it went). The Chart of Accounts is just the master list of every bucket you use. Other names for the same thing: CoA, "the chart," "the accounts list," or just "accounts." A real example A small Bitcoin coffee shop's Chart of Accounts might look like this: ASSETS (what we own) 1010 Cash on Hand (the bank account) 1110 BTC Hot Wallet (Lightning, daily ops) 1115 BTC Cold Storage (long-term reserve) 1200 Accounts Receivable (customers who haven't paid yet) 1500 Office Equipment LIABILITIES (what we owe) 2010 Accounts Payable (vendor bills not yet paid) 2100 Credit Card EQUITY (owner's stake) 3010 Owner's Capital 3100 Retained Earnings INCOME (money coming in) 4010 Sales: Coffee 4020 Sales: Pastries 4030 Tips Received EXPENSES (money going out) 5010 Cost of Coffee Beans 5020 Cost of Milk and Pastries 6010 Rent 6020 Utilities 6030 Salaries 6040 Marketing 6050 Software Subscriptions 6900 Other Expenses That's a Chart of Accounts. About 20 buckets, organized into five top-level groups. The five top-level groups Every account in any business belongs to one of five categories. These are the same in every accounting tool, every accounting framework, every country: Assets Things the business owns. Cash, accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, Bitcoin wallets, real estate. Anything of value. Liabilities Things the business owes. Accounts payable to vendors, credit card balances, loans, taxes due. Equity The owners' stake. What's left after subtracting liabilities from assets. Includes the original investment ("Owner's Capital") and accumulated profits over time ("Retained Earnings"). Income Money coming in from your normal business activities. Sales, service fees, interest received. Expenses Money going out for normal business operations. Rent, salaries, supplies, marketing, all the costs of running. Why the structure matters The five groups directly determine how your reports look: - Balance Sheet shows Assets, Liabilities, and Equity - Profit & Loss shows Income and Expenses Every account you create has to belong to one of these five groups, because that's how reports get built. If an account's group is set wrong, it shows up in the wrong place on reports, and the numbers don't make sense. What BitBooks gives you out of the box When you create a new organization in BitBooks, the system automatically sets up about 40 default accounts covering the categories most businesses need. You don't have to design a Chart of Accounts from scratch. The defaults follow standard QuickBooks/Xero conventions. Anyone with bookkeeping experience will recognize the structure immediately. To see your current Chart of Accounts: 1. Click Admin in the sidebar 2. Click Chart of Accounts tab You'll see the table of accounts, grouped by type. Admin Chart of Accounts table showing the 40 default accounts grouped by Asset / Liability / Equity / Income / Expense Account codes (those numbers) You'll notice each account has a number, called a code: 1010 Cash on Hand 1110 BTC Hot Wallet 4010 Sales: Coffee 6010 Rent The code is just a way to organize accounts in a predictable order. The first digit follows a convention used worldwide: | First digit | Type | |---|---| | 1 | Assets | | 2 | Liabilities | | 3 | Equity | | 4 | Income | | 5 | Cost of Sales | | 6, 7, 8 | Expenses | | 9 | Other | So if you see an account starting with 4, you know it's Income. Starting with 6, it's an operating expense. The convention isn't strictly required but makes navigation easier. In BitBooks, codes are optional. You can use them if you want a specific numeric structure, or leave them blank if you'd rather just rely on names. Most users keep them. Sub-types: a finer breakdown Each top-level group breaks down into sub-types. For example, under Assets: - WALLETS (your wallet accounts) - OTHER_CURRENT_ASSETS (cash, receivables) - FIXED_ASSETS (equipment, vehicles, property) - OTHER_ASSETS (deposits, intangibles, prepaids) Sub-types determine where the account appears within its section on reports. A wallet under WALLETS shows up in the wallet section of the Balance Sheet. Office Equipment under FIXED_ASSETS shows up under Fixed Assets. When you create a new account, you pick both the type and the sub-type. Wallets are accounts too In BitBooks, every wallet you create is also an account in the Chart of Accounts. A "Blink Lightning Hot" wallet is also a "Blink Lightning Hot" account in the CoA, with sub-type WALLETS, type Asset. This is by design. The Chart of Accounts is the single source of truth for everything that holds value. Wallets are just a kind of account. You manage the wallet from the Wallets page. You see its accounting in the Chart of Accounts. They're two views of the same underlying data. Customizing your Chart of Accounts The 40 defaults are a starting point. Most businesses add a few custom accounts: - A coffee shop might add "Cost of Coffee Beans" and "Cost of Milk" under Cost of Sales for granular tracking - A SaaS company might add "Cloud Hosting" and "Customer Support Tools" under Operating Expenses - A Bitcoin mining operation might add "Mining Equipment Depreciation" and "Electricity for Mining" To create a custom account: 1. Admin → Chart of Accounts 2. Click New Account 3. Fill in name, type, sub-type, optional code 4. Save The new account is immediately available in transaction forms. New Account modal showing the form with name, type dropdown, sub-type dropdown, and code field You can also archive accounts you don't use (clean up the chart), edit names, and reorganize. Just don't delete accounts that already have transactions; archive them instead. What changes for Bitcoin businesses The five groups are universal. The accounts within those groups vary by business type. For Bitcoin businesses, common additions: Asset accounts: - BTC Hot Wallet, BTC Cold Storage (one per wallet you operate) - BTC Receivables (customers who paid you in BTC but you haven't reconciled yet) Income accounts: - Lightning Sales (separate from on-chain sales for visibility) - Mining Income (if you mine) - Realized FX Gain on Bitcoin (when you sell BTC at a profit) Expense accounts: - Lightning Fees (the fees Lightning charges per payment) - On-Chain Network Fees - Mining Electricity (if you mine) - Realized FX Loss on Bitcoin Equity accounts: - Unrealized FX Gain on Bitcoin (created automatically by FX revaluation, see Tracking Bitcoin Value Changes) The defaults include enough to cover most Bitcoin business cases. You can always add more. What NOT to do - Don't make every variation a separate account. Don't have 30 sub-accounts for "Office Supplies: Pens," "Office Supplies: Paper," "Office Supplies: Sticky Notes." One "Office Supplies" account is enough; if you really need that level of detail, use the memo field on transactions or a separate tracking system. - Don't change account types after the fact. If you accidentally created an account as Income but it should be Expense, the cleanest move is to archive it and create a new one. Changing the type retroactively would re-classify all the transactions on that account. - Don't delete accounts with history. Use archive instead. Deletion would orphan past transactions; archiving keeps them but hides the account from new entries. Common questions "How many accounts is too many?" There's no hard rule, but most small businesses have 30 to 80 accounts. More than 150 starts to be hard to navigate. If your CoA grows beyond that, consider whether some accounts should consolidate. "Can I import a Chart of Accounts from QuickBooks?" Yes, partially. The QuickBooks importer brings in your existing CoA structure as part of the migration. See Importing from QuickBooks. "Do I need a separate account for every wallet?" Yes. Each wallet is its own account. This lets you see the balance per wallet on reports, reconcile per wallet, and audit history per wallet. Mixing wallets into one account would lose all that visibility. Where to go next - Account Types Explained for a deeper dive on Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense - Account Sub-Types and How They're Used for the next layer of detail - Creating Custom Accounts for the how-to walkthrough - Account Codes and Numbering for the conventions if you want to use them

Account Types Explained

The five types Every account in BitBooks belongs to exactly one of five types. The same five types exist in every accounting system in the world: | Type | What it represents | Example accounts | |---|---|---| | Asset | What you own | Cash, BTC wallet, Accounts Receivable, Office Equipment | | Liability | What you owe | Accounts Payable, Credit Card, Loan | | Equity | Owner's stake | Owner's Capital, Retained Earnings | | Income | Money coming in (revenue) | Sales, Interest Income, Tips Received | | Expense | Money going out (operating costs) | Rent, Salaries, Software Subscriptions | That's it. Every dollar (and every satoshi) flows through accounts of these types. Where each type appears on reports The two main financial statements use these types: Balance Sheet = Assets, Liabilities, Equity. Shows what you own and owe at a moment in time. Profit & Loss = Income and Expenses. Shows whether you made money over a period. Picking the right type at account creation determines which report the account appears on. Asset accounts Anything of value the business has. Common ones: - Cash on Hand (your bank account) - BTC Hot Wallet, BTC Cold Storage (Bitcoin wallets) - Accounts Receivable (money customers owe you) - Inventory (goods you have to sell) - Office Equipment, Vehicles (long-term assets) - Prepaid Expenses (you paid in advance, the benefit is still coming) In BitBooks, every wallet you create is also an Asset account. The wallet IS the account. Assets normally have debit balances (they go up with debits, down with credits). Liability accounts Anything the business owes to others. Common ones: - Accounts Payable (vendor bills you haven't paid yet) - Credit Card (your business credit card balance) - Equipment Loan, Mortgage (long-term debt) - Sales Tax Payable (sales tax you've collected but not yet remitted) - Wages Payable (salaries earned but not yet paid) Liabilities normally have credit balances (they go up with credits, down with debits). Equity accounts The owners' stake in the business. Mathematically: Equity = Assets minus Liabilities. Common ones: - Owner's Capital (money the owners put into the business) - Retained Earnings (accumulated profits not paid out as dividends) - Owner's Draws (money the owners have taken out) - Common Stock (for incorporated businesses) - Unrealized FX Gain on Bitcoin (created when you run an FX revaluation, see Tracking Bitcoin Value Changes) Equity normally has credit balances. Income accounts Money coming in from your normal business activities. Common ones: - Sales (revenue from your main offerings) - Service Revenue (revenue from services rendered) - Tips Received (separate from sales, common for hospitality) - Interest Income (interest your bank account earns) - Other Income (catch-all for unusual income) Income normally has credit balances. Income accounts reset to zero at year-end. They report on the P&L for one period, then start fresh next period. The cumulative profit gets rolled into Retained Earnings. Expense accounts Money going out for normal business operations. Common ones: - Cost of Goods Sold (direct cost of what you sold) - Rent - Salaries - Marketing - Software Subscriptions - Office Supplies - Utilities - Other Expenses Expenses normally have debit balances. Like Income, Expense accounts reset to zero at year-end. Sub-types within each type Each type has sub-types that further organize accounts on reports. For example, Asset sub-types: - WALLETS (Bitcoin wallets and bank accounts) - OTHER_CURRENT_ASSETS (cash equivalents, receivables) - FIXED_ASSETS (equipment, vehicles, property) - OTHER_ASSETS (prepaids, deposits, intangibles) When you create an account, you pick the type AND the sub-type. The sub-type determines exactly where on the Balance Sheet (or P&L) the account appears. For the full sub-type list, see Account Sub-Types and How They're Used. Picking the right type A simple decision tree: 1. Does it represent something you own? → Asset 2. Does it represent something you owe? → Liability 3. Does it represent owner's investment or accumulated profit? → Equity 4. Does it represent money coming in from operations? → Income 5. Does it represent money going out as a cost? → Expense Examples: - A Bitcoin wallet → Asset (you own the Bitcoin in it) - A credit card → Liability (you owe the credit card company) - A loan from the founder to the business → Liability (the business owes the founder) OR Equity (if it's effectively investment, no formal loan) - A monthly Slack bill → Expense - A customer paying you for service → Income When in doubt, ask your accountant. The mapping is conventional and rarely surprising. What goes wrong if the type is wrong If you accidentally create a Sales account as Expense type: - Every Sales transaction reduces "expenses" instead of adding to "income" - P&L revenue is understated - P&L expenses are understated - Net profit is wrong The numbers can still total correctly inside their type, but they appear in the wrong report section. This is rare but possible if you click the wrong type when creating. The fix: archive the wrong-typed account, create a new correctly-typed account, move transactions over (talk to support if there's history involved). Where to go next - What is the Chart of Accounts? for the foundational concept - Account Sub-Types and How They're Used for the next layer of detail - Creating Custom Accounts for the how-to walkthrough - Account Codes and Numbering for the optional numeric structure

Account Sub-Types and How They're Used

Why sub-types exist The five account types (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense) are too coarse to organize a Balance Sheet or P&L cleanly. A "Cash on Hand" and a "Vehicle" are both Assets, but they belong in different sections of the Balance Sheet (Current Assets vs Fixed Assets). Sub-types are the next layer of organization. Each account belongs to one type AND one sub-type. The full sub-type list Asset sub-types - WALLETS. Bank accounts, Bitcoin wallets. Anything that holds money you can spend now. - OTHER_CURRENT_ASSETS. Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Prepaid Expenses. Convertible to cash within a year. - FIXED_ASSETS. Office Equipment, Vehicles, Property. Long-term things you use, not sell. - OTHER_ASSETS. Deposits, Intangibles, Goodwill. Doesn't fit the above. Liability sub-types - CURRENT_LIABILITIES. Accounts Payable, Credit Cards, Sales Tax Payable. Due within a year. - LONG_TERM_LIABILITIES. Mortgages, Equipment Loans (over 1 year). Due more than a year out. Equity sub-types - OWNERS_EQUITY. Owner's Capital, Common Stock. The original investment. - RETAINED_EARNINGS. Accumulated profit kept in the business. - DIVIDENDS_PAID. Dividends paid out to owners. Income sub-types - SALES. Your main revenue. The bread-and-butter income from operations. - OTHER_INCOME. Interest income, refunds, gains on sales of assets, anything outside core operations. Expense sub-types - COST_OF_SALES. Direct costs of producing what you sold (raw materials, freight in, direct labor in production). - SALES_AND_MARKETING. Marketing campaigns, sales commissions, advertising. - LABOR. Salaries, payroll taxes, benefits. - GENERAL_AND_ADMINISTRATIVE. Rent, utilities, software subscriptions, office supplies. The "running the business" expenses. - OTHER_EXPENSES. One-off expenses that don't fit elsewhere. Other - SUSPENSE. A temporary holding account for transactions you're not sure how to categorize. Should be empty most of the time. How sub-types affect reports The Balance Sheet groups Assets in this order: Current Assets first (wallets and OTHER_CURRENT_ASSETS), then Fixed Assets, then Other Assets. Within each group, accounts appear in the order they're listed in your Chart of Accounts. The P&L groups Income at the top (Sales then Other Income), then Cost of Sales, then operating expenses sorted by sub-type (Sales & Marketing, Labor, G&A, Other), with Net Profit at the bottom. If you put an account in the wrong sub-type, it shows up in the wrong section. The numbers still add correctly, but the report looks weird. Common sub-type confusions Sales vs Other Income Use Sales for the revenue your business is built on. If you run a coffee shop, coffee sales is Sales. If you also occasionally rent out a meeting room, rental income is Other Income (it's not your main business). For a Bitcoin business, all your normal Bitcoin-related revenue (Lightning sales, on-chain sales, mining rewards from your normal operation) is Sales. Realized FX gains on Bitcoin held as treasury are Other Income (they're not what you do for a living). Cost of Sales vs G&A Cost of Sales is the cost that scales with sales. If you sell more coffee, you buy more beans. If you do more freelance work, you have more direct labor cost. G&A is the cost of running the business that doesn't scale tightly with sales. Rent, software, office supplies, the bookkeeper's salary. Roughly: Cost of Sales is "what it cost to produce the thing I sold." G&A is "what it cost to keep the lights on." Sales & Marketing vs G&A Sales commissions, paid ad spend, marketing software (HubSpot, etc.) are Sales & Marketing. The CEO's salary is Labor, not Sales & Marketing, even if the CEO does some sales. When in doubt, ask "is this directly trying to win customers?" If yes, S&M. If it's general overhead, G&A. Labor vs G&A Labor is for compensation (salaries, payroll taxes, benefits). G&A is for non-compensation overhead. Some accountants put bookkeeping/admin staff salaries under G&A instead of Labor (since they're not "operational labor"). Either is acceptable; pick one and stick with it. Picking the right sub-type at creation When you create a new account in Admin → Chart of Accounts, the form asks for type AND sub-type. Picking the type first restricts the available sub-types. For a Bitcoin business setting up a custom account, common picks: | New account | Type | Sub-type | |---|---|---| | Lightning Sales | Income | SALES | | On-Chain Sales | Income | SALES | | Mining Income | Income | SALES | | Lightning Fees Paid | Expense | COST_OF_SALES | | Software: Bitcoin Node Hosting | Expense | GENERAL_AND_ADMINISTRATIVE | | Marketing: Bitcoin Conferences | Expense | SALES_AND_MARKETING | | New Cold Storage Wallet | Asset | WALLETS | | New Cold Storage Vault (cold steel) | Asset | FIXED_ASSETS | When unsure, check what the existing default accounts use as a pattern. Changing a sub-type after the fact You can change an account's sub-type from the Admin → Chart of Accounts page, click the account, edit. The change applies to all future reports immediately. Past reports if re-rendered will also update (so a re-rendered January P&L would show the account in its new sub-type group). This is fine for cosmetic moves. Don't change between Income and Expense (that's a type change, not a sub-type change, and it changes the meaning of the numbers). What "SUSPENSE" is for A SUSPENSE account is a temporary holding account. Use it when you have a transaction you can't categorize on the spot, post it to SUSPENSE so the entry is balanced, and come back to recategorize. Example: a wire showed up in your bank account but you don't know who from. Post it to SUSPENSE while you investigate. Once you know, reverse and re-post to the correct account. A healthy SUSPENSE balance at month-end is zero. If it's not zero, you have unresolved entries to investigate before closing. Where to go next - Account Types Explained for the parent concept - Creating Custom Accounts for the how-to walkthrough - Account Codes and Numbering for the optional numbering convention - Profit & Loss Report to see how sub-types group on the P&L - Balance Sheet to see how Asset and Liability sub-types group

Creating Custom Accounts

When to create a new account Create a custom account when: - You need a level of detail the default chart doesn't have (separate "Lightning Sales" from "On-Chain Sales") - Your business has unusual categories (a mining operation needs "Mining Equipment Depreciation" and "Mining Electricity") - You're tracking a new revenue stream or expense category - Your accountant asked for it Don't create a new account when an existing one would work. The chart should be useful, not exhaustive. Most small businesses run fine with 30 to 80 accounts total. How to create one 1. Click Admin in the sidebar 2. Click the Chart of Accounts tab 3. Click New Account at the top of the table 4. Fill in the form Admin → Chart of Accounts page with the New Account button highlighted, then the modal showing the create form The fields Name (required) What you and your team will call this account. Use a clear, specific name. Bad: "Misc." Good: "Lightning Network Fees." Names must be unique within an organization. You can't have two accounts both named "Marketing." Type (required) Pick one of: Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense. This decides which financial statement the account appears on. See Account Types Explained. Sub-type (required) Pick one of the sub-types available for the type you selected. The sub-type decides where on the report the account appears. See Account Sub-Types. Code (optional) A numeric code if you want one. Convention: 1xxx for assets, 2xxx for liabilities, 3xxx for equity, 4xxx for income, 5xxx-8xxx for expenses. See Account Codes and Numbering. If you leave it blank, the account just sorts by name. Most users use codes once they get used to them. Description (optional) A note about what this account is for. Helpful when other team members might be unsure whether to use this account or a different one. Example for "Software Subscriptions: Bitcoin Tools": "Use for Bitcoin-specific software like node hosting, Lightning tools. Generic SaaS goes to General Software Subscriptions." Currency (optional) Some accounts are inherently in a single currency. A "BTC Hot Wallet" is BTC. A "EUR Bank Account" is EUR. Set this for clarity. For most accounts (Sales, Rent, etc.), leave it blank. The account isn't currency-specific; transactions in any currency can post to it. Parent account (optional) You can nest accounts under a parent. Useful for grouping. For example, you might have a parent "Marketing" with children "Marketing: Paid Ads," "Marketing: Conferences," "Marketing: Content." On reports, child amounts roll up under the parent. Leave parent blank for top-level accounts. Most accounts are top-level; nesting is a power feature. FX Revaluation Override (optional) Most accounts behave naturally when you run an FX revaluation. The override is for unusual cases where you want to force an account to be treated as monetary, non-monetary, or excluded entirely. Almost always leave this blank. If your accountant tells you to set this, set it. Otherwise ignore. After saving The new account is immediately available: - In the dropdown when you create transactions - In journal entry forms - In reports (it'll appear if it has activity) - In the Chart of Accounts list Until it has activity, it has a $0 balance and won't show on reports. Editing an existing account 1. Admin → Chart of Accounts 2. Click the account row 3. Edit any field 4. Save You can change name, code, description, parent, currency. You can change sub-type within the same type. You cannot change the type itself once created (because that would re-classify all the historical transactions). If you really need to change the type, archive the wrong-typed account and create a new correctly-typed one. Talk to support if you have history to migrate. Archiving (the right way to remove) Don't delete accounts. Archive them. 1. Click the account in the Chart of Accounts table 2. Click Archive Archived accounts: - Don't appear in dropdowns when creating new transactions - Don't appear in default report views - Still preserve their historical transactions (so reports for past periods still work) - Can be restored if you change your mind You can see archived accounts by toggling "Show archived" on the Chart of Accounts page. What you can't archive - System accounts. A few accounts are required for BitBooks to function (Suspense, Retained Earnings, etc.). They can't be archived. The Archive button is disabled. - Wallet accounts that are still active. If a wallet is still being used (transactions posting to it), you can't archive its account. Archive the wallet first; the account follows. Common account-creation patterns Bitcoin business Income: Sales: Lightning Sales: On-Chain Sales: Stablecoin Sales: Fiat Tips Received Mining Income Other Income Expenses: Cost of Sales: Bitcoin (for businesses where BTC is inventory) Lightning Network Fees On-Chain Network Fees Mining Electricity Mining Equipment Maintenance Assets: BTC Hot Wallet (one per wallet) BTC Cold Storage (one per cold wallet) Lightning Inbound Liquidity Reserve Service business Income: Service Revenue: Consulting Service Revenue: Implementation Service Revenue: Support Expenses: Subcontractor Fees Software: CRM Software: Project Management Travel: Client Meetings Retail/e-commerce Income: Sales: Storefront Sales: Online Sales: Bitcoin Expenses: Cost of Goods Sold Marketplace Fees (Stripe, Shopify, etc.) Bitcoin Network Fees Shipping & Handling Pick the structure that matches how you actually run your business. Don't over-engineer. Where to go next - What is the Chart of Accounts? for the foundation - Account Types Explained for the type meanings - Account Sub-Types for the next layer of organization - Account Codes and Numbering for the optional numeric convention

Account Codes and Numbering

What an account code is A short number attached to each account, like a label on a folder. The code is optional in BitBooks but most businesses use them. 1010 Cash on Hand 1110 BTC Hot Wallet 4010 Sales: Coffee 6010 Rent The code goes before the name, sorts the accounts predictably, and signals what kind of account it is (because of the convention below). The standard convention This is used worldwide and built into most accounting tools: | First digit | Type | |---|---| | 1 | Assets | | 2 | Liabilities | | 3 | Equity | | 4 | Income | | 5 | Cost of Sales | | 6, 7, 8 | Operating Expenses | | 9 | Other Income/Expense | So if you see an account starting with 4, you know it's Income. Starting with 6, it's Operating Expense. The convention isn't legally required, but following it makes your books readable to any accountant. A four-digit pattern Most businesses use four-digit codes: - First digit = type (per convention above) - Second digit = sub-category - Third and fourth digits = specific account So in the Asset range (1xxx): - 10xx = Cash and Cash Equivalents - 11xx = Bitcoin and Crypto Wallets - 12xx = Accounts Receivable - 13xx = Inventory - 14xx = Other Current Assets - 15xx = Fixed Assets - 18xx = Other Assets And specifically: - 1010 = Cash on Hand (the bank account) - 1020 = Petty Cash - 1110 = BTC Hot Wallet - 1115 = BTC Cold Storage - 1120 = ETH Wallet (if you held ETH) - 1200 = Accounts Receivable - 1500 = Office Equipment Spaces between codes (1010, 1020, 1030 instead of 1010, 1011, 1012) leave room to insert new accounts later without renumbering. Why codes help - Sorting. Accounts sort numerically, which groups similar accounts together. Without codes, accounts sort alphabetically and "Bank Account" comes before "Cash on Hand" comes before "Inventory" with no logical grouping. - Speed of recognition. Once you know the convention, you can identify an account's type from the code at a glance. - Reports. Some reports (especially General Ledger) display the code, which helps when you have similar names across types. - Accountant communication. External accountants often reference accounts by code: "post that to 6010, not 5010." Setting codes in BitBooks When creating or editing an account (Admin → Chart of Accounts), the Code field is just below Name. Type a number and save. Codes have to be unique within an organization. You can't have two accounts both with code 1010. Should you use codes? If you're doing your own books and don't think numerically: maybe not. The names are enough. If your accountant uses codes, your business will grow, or you have more than 30 accounts: yes, use codes. The investment in setting them up pays off the first time you have to scan through 60 accounts looking for one. You can always add codes later. They're not required at account-creation time. Migrating from QuickBooks QuickBooks has a similar code convention. When you import from QuickBooks, your existing codes come over. You don't have to re-number anything. If you set up accounts in BitBooks first without codes, then later decide to add them, you can edit each account and add a code. There's no bulk-edit yet, so for many accounts this is one-by-one work. Common questions "Do I have to follow the convention?" No. You could use codes A1, A2, A3 if you wanted. But following the convention means anyone reading your books recognizes what's what immediately. Strong recommendation. "What if I want a five-digit code?" Fine. BitBooks doesn't restrict the length. Some businesses use five or six digits for finer hierarchy. "Can two accounts have the same code in different organizations?" Yes. Codes are unique per organization, not globally. Each organization has its own code namespace. Where to go next - What is the Chart of Accounts? for the foundation - Account Types Explained for the type meanings - Creating Custom Accounts for the how-to walkthrough - Account Sub-Types for the next layer of organization